Patients & Technology in Hospice (PATH)
Funding source: National Cancer Institutes/National Institutes of Health
Patients and Technology in Hospice (PATH) is a two-year multi-site feasibility study designed to test the effectiveness of a patient-centered health information technology (HIT) intervention in reducing pain and other manageable symptoms in hospice/palliative care patients. This study aims to decrease barriers of effective symptom management with a novel technology-based approach that will enhance patients' and their families' abilities to report, and health care providers' ability to address, distressing problems.
The system is designed for patients (or caregivers) to report their symptoms using either the telephone or the internet, receive feedback based on the symptoms reported, and generate alerts to nurses and caregivers.
Outcomes of the study will be measured RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) framework. Based on findings from this project, we will prepare an R01 proposal for a larger-scale randomized clinical trial to test the efficacy of the symptom management HIT intervention for decreasing symptom distress among persons with advanced cancer.
Patient enrollment began in September of 2006, and will continue through September of 2007.
Participating Sites:
Keystone Hospice, Wyndmoor, PA
Hospice of the Western Reserve, Cleveland, OH
Hospice of the Plains, Wray, CO
San Diego Hospice and Palliative Care, San DIego, CA
Hospice Services of Northwestern Colorado, Steamboat Springs, CO
The Denver Hospice, Denver, CO
For more information on this study, please contact
Jean Kutner, MD, MSPH
Principal Investigator
Jean.Kutner@uchsc.edu
or
Jenny Vancura
Study Coordinator
Jennifer.Vancura@uchsc.edu